CSD Retirement Trust offers strong performance, added services and low fees
Improving retirement planning and outcomes while reducing employees’ costs are the goals of the CSD Retirement Trust, which stands at 68 participating school districts in 2024. The Trust’s geographic boundaries encompass districts from Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas and North Dakota. The ten CSDGKC districts currently participating are Grain Valley, Harrisonville, Independence, Kansas City, Kearney, Lee’s Summit, Liberty, Oak Grove, Platte County and Smithville.
In addition to a robust platform of well-diversified investment options containing high-performing funds, the Trust expanded its services that assist a participant with total financial wellness support. Got Zoom and Savvi continue to provide participants with student loan debt management and repayment solutions. Beginning in September, the Trust began a campaign to encourage districts to take advantage of the benefits offered by Best Money Moves.
Reflecting the Trust’s commitment to financial education and literacy, the subscription service offers a comprehensive web-based suite of tools to assist all employees, not just Trust participants, make smarter financial decisions unique to their individual circumstances. Got Zoom, Savvi and Best Money Moves are value-added services offered at no cost to districts or participants.
Growth continued in 2024, with the Trust serving more than 10,250 participants with over $293 million in total plan assets. In 2024 CBIZ, the Trust’s financial advisory firm, launched a new proprietary scoring system and evaluation methodology that attempt to quantify the qualitative aspects of investment managers. CBIZ IQ ™ not only scores funds on traditional factors of performance and risk, qualitative factors are now incorporated into the scores, giving a more holistic picture of potential long-term investment success without sole reliance on past performance data. Using CBIZ IQ ™ the Trust’s investment options continue to show solid performance when compared against Morningstar category peers.
The success of the Retirement Trust is reflected in its ability to lower investment management fees, thereby passing along those cost savings to its participants through reduced fees. The Trust’s annual headcount fee remained at $10 per annum, and total basis points remained at 21 bps. Since the launch of the Trust in 2010, total investment management fees for an individual have been systematically reduced, bringing significant cost savings to investors.
The Retirement Trust provides CSDGKC districts with a reliable, appealing alternative to managing these funds and processes in-house. Since the formation of the CSD Retirement Trust in 2010, members have continued to praise the its emphasis on diversified investment options as well as the personal attention from financial advisors.
For more information about the CSD Retirement Trust’s many advantages for districts and staff members, contact Richard Counts, Managing Director, at (314) 703-0408 or by Email or Paul Shrout, CSDGKC Director of Business Services, at (816) 753-7275 or by Email.